Problems with 2007 Toyota RAV4 SUSPENSION

My 2007 rav4 driver side rear window wont go up and down. the driver side control switch for the rear driver side window does not move. the switch for the rear driver side window on the back door does not work all the time. when it does work just one tap and the rear window (driver side) goes down all the way by its self. the other three switches for the windows and the other three windows seem to work and respond how they should. only problem is with the rear window and the switch on both the driver door and the rear window door (driver side). also while driving to work driving aprox 10 mph my rear passenger side wheel bent in toward the wheel well. the tie rod was broke and the tie rod was very rusted . the dealer said it was a freak occurrence and fixed it while under warranty. problem is that the other side of the rear suspension (driver side) is also rusted but they did not fix it at the same time. this happened june 14th at about 6:10 am i was not told of the recall of this tie rod issue at the time of it getting fixed . they played it off as it were a freak occurrence.. toyota/scion dealer of berlin city toyota. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota rav4. the contact was driving 30 mph when the rear tie rod fractured. the vehicle became uncontrollable as the contact merged to the shoulder. the vehicle was towed to the dealer who inspected the failure and confirmed that the rear tie rod was fractured as a result of rust. the dealer replaced the tie rods. the manufacturer was not notified of the failure. the vin was unknown. the failure mileage was 104,000.

When turning right at low speed, passenger side rear tie rod assembly failed and wheel turned at 45 degree angle, disabling the automobile. if this had happened on the highway, it would have caused a catastrophic accident. dealership had previously checked a knocking noise in rear, but was unable to find a problem. i was told that this problem was a design fault and that there were not enough threads on the tie rod assembly to hold the tie rod sufficiently. i have found other reports of this tie rod failure. should be a safety recall. *tr

On march 29, 2012, i pulled out of my driveway & heard a clunk. checked rear underside & saw nothing amiss. arrived in downtown chicago and heard 3 more clunks (when making right turns). then the final extra loud clunk as the steering went out of control. i was on michigan ave. in front of the hilton hotel during rush hour traffic (5 pm) doing 25 to 30 mph. cars all around me. gently applied brakes & emergency flashers to warn others, as i kept turning the steering wheel from way left to way right. eased my way from center lane over to the curb. can't believe i didn't hit anything! right rear wheel was tilted at about a 45 degree angle--top outward, bottom inward. in another 15 min. i would have been on the expressway doing 50 --60 mph. vehicle had to be towed back to indiana. toyota service advisor said: "bolt rusted through. if keeping car, suggest getting left rear suspension replaced too because it is getting ready to go. a company rep is going to come out to look at it because we have had another exact failure just recently." the rep decided he did not need to see it. (i'm sure he was already aware of the bigger problem toyota would be facing.) vehicle facts: 2007 rav-4, mileage: 43,185, one owner, garage kept (except for vacations). last 27-point inspection: (1-21-2012) 2 months before failure. no items in the section titled "under vehicle" were even checked off as completed (good or bad). this included "suspension & steering linkage". i paid $778. to have both left & right suspension assemblies replaced & an alignment. when i asked about reimbursement from toyota, the service advisor said "no. they consider it normal "wear & tear". note: cases like mine are not going to show up as "traffic accidents" because i didn't hit anything or anyone. and those that are accidents could possibly be mistaken as: "over-corrective steering!" *tr

Knock and sudden shift of steering wheel. noise appeared to come from front of vehicle and along the steering column or suspension system. has grown worse with use, but vehicle only has 30,250 miles. we would like to know if it's safe to drive; danger of loss of steering. we do not feel safe, especially at highway speeds. *js

My 2007 toyota rav4 had a rear right wheel tie rod break while i was driving with my wife and our one year old child in the vehicle. we were on our way to see my wife's doctor for her medical condition at the time. thankfully we had just made a turn on to the on-ramp of the garden state parkway and were moving at a relatively slow speed. i can't imagine what would have happened if we were traveling at highway speed when the tie rod broke, i might have lost control of the vehicle and had a terrible crash with serious injury (or worse) to our family and possibly other drivers on the road. after searching on the internet about toyota rav4 tie rod incidents, it seems that it has happened to other rav4 drivers many times on all different model years of the vehicle. just like us they all say they did not hit any pot holes or other objects to have caused the tie rod to break. this failing of tie rods on rav4s seems like a manufacturing or design defect. some action needs to be taken to address this issue before someone is killed or seriously injured from this tie rod failures on toyota rav4 vehicles. *tr

Steering has play and clunk at times causing car to swerve do mechanical defect and/or over correction of the driver do to sensation of loss of steering control. after reading user forms on this vehicle it is common to the vehicle and should be recalled by toyota to prevent fatal accidents. recall items should include middle shaft and rack and pinion. websites below tell people to complain to toyota but this should be mandated by the nhtsa http://www.aboutautomobile.com/complaint/2007/toyota/rav4/steering http://www.rav4world.com/forums/99-4-3-mechanical/82616-steering-intermediate-shaft-clunk-solution.html. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota rv4. the contact stated that while driving 45 mph, there was a loud metallic noise. the contact lost control of the vehicle and was able to control the steering wheel. the contact stopped the vehicle and inspected further. the contact then noticed that the left rear wheel was on a 60 degree angle. the vehicle was inspected by a mechanic who advised that the rear wheel assembly was fractured and the tread was stripped. the manufacturer was made aware of the issue and offered a new rear assembly if the contact traded in the old part. the vehicle was repaired by replacing the rear wheel assembly and performing a wheel alignment. the current mileage was 89,883. the failure mileage was 89,000. ..updated 09/04/12 *bf the consumer stated while the vehicle was fishtailing she jammed on the breaks slowly stopping with in inches from parked cars. updated 09/12/2012 *js

Vehicle exhibited a clunk and ratchet sound from rear of car when driving over small bumps. problem was reported to dealer in january 2010. while the noise was replicated, they were unable to find the source of the problem. i was assured that the suspension components were in good condition. a local mechanic was also consulted who could not pinpoint the source of the suspension noise. approximately one year later i was driving down the road and i lost control of the vehicle. the right rear wheel kicked out and was no longer parallel with the vehicle. car was practically immobile. the source of the problem was found to be a linkage that stripped itself out. the linkage (tie rod?) holds the wheel in place. i had both sides (right and left) repaired just in case the left side experienced similar wear. car remains slightly out of alignment (just beyond tolerance) as linkage failure caused suspension components to warp or bend. *tr

While traveling on a highway, the rear tie rod (suspension arm) on the driver side of our rav4 suddenly failed, causing the car to swerve wildly out of control and crash into a concrete divider. after the car came to a stop, the affected wheel was found to be tilted on an angle. there was no indication of a mechanical problem prior to the failure. the rav4 had 62,422 miles at the time. the accident occurred on december 24, 2011 - prior to the related recalls 12v373000 (c0j) and 13v383000 (csj). i wrote to toyota executives in january 2012. my letter described our incident, and i included three similar reports from other drivers from the nhtsa website and an internet search. i was put in contact with a representative from toyota executive offices. i mailed the failed part to toyota u.s.a. headquarters in february 2012 after taking photos to document the problem. corrosion was hidden within the tube of the suspension arm. the threads on the tie rod end had corroded, so one piece could be pulled straight out from the other part without having to unscrew it. the lower part of the bolt or tie rod end was also fractured due to the corrosion. after following up with toyota executive offices, i was informed that this issue was already known to them, and resulted from improper torque applied during a wheel alignment. my car previously had a wheel alignment at an authorized toyota service center. toyota officially started the recall process with the nhtsa about a half year later. toyota should have taken steps much earlier to notify owners of this very dangerous issue! a document on the nhtsa website indicates toyota started an initial investigation in 2008. based on other recall-related documents, it is scary that there appear to be hundreds of thousands of involved vehicles that have yet to be inspected. updated 12/03/14. *jb updated 01/26/15.*jb updated 01/27/15*jb the consumers claim was denied, because toyota did not get an opportunity to inspect the vehicle in order to address his concern or conf

On august 29, 2011, 19 year-old subject was traveling straight across an intersection when subject was struck on driver side by a 2010 hyundai elantra. subject was struck by a motorist that according to police officer report, ran a red light. subject was proceeding straight with green light while driving a white 2007 toyota rav4 with approximately 104,299 miles. subject purchased rav4 vehicle from toyota in april of 2011. subject purchased 2007 rav4 on account of the airbag safety features (head, side, front, passenger side airbags) to protect subject from injury. on august 29, 2011, subject 2007 rav4 sustained damage from rocker panel to roof and from front left bumper to doors. structural, suspension, wheel, and steering components were also damaged as per the appraiser's damage estimate following the august 29, 2011 accident. no airbags deployed. a letter was sent to toyota. calls were made to toyota to assess the damage and toyota denied claims of any wrongdoing or defect. subject was injured in accident. toyota declined to inspect vehicle. recent notices of recalls received along with toyota sending emails to subject to try to purchase subject rav4 lends credibility to subject assertion that airbags should have deployed and protected subject from injury during the august 29, 2011 incident. the airbag features failed subject and failed to protect subject from injury on august 29, 2011. 2007 rav4 was declared a total loss by geico and liberty mutual. this accident totaled a rav4 and no airbags deployed. given inadequate attention was given to subject and investigation of this matter by toyota, subject seeks investigation and remedy for injuries sustained. *tr

Replaced lower and middle steering shaft. replaced stabilizer bar control end links, front and rear and struts.

Clunking noise coming from steering mechanism. replaced lower and middle steering shaft and front and rear end links. *tr

I had heard a slight clunking noise from the rear. i pulled out of my driveway and heard a loud clunk, started down a hill and lost complete control of the car. i went from one side of the street to the other. luckily no cars were coming. finally a got the car stopped and returned to my garage. looking at the rear right tire it was bent in at the top. i had to have it towed to the dealer. the dealer's diagnosis was "left rear tie-rod pulled apart". i had it replaced. we had just returned from philadelphia the day before and hate to think what would have happened had it occurred on pennsylvania's northeast extension, traveling at 65 mph. i never even thought to report it back then and i am sure this is a result of this recall 12v373000. *tr

Tl* the contact owns a 2007 toyota rav4. while driving approximately 50 mph she heard a snap and the steering wheel began to shake. she continued to drive approximately 30 mph when she heard a loud bang and lost control of the vehicle. the vehicle was pulled over and shut off. the vehicle was towed to an authorized dealer where she was informed the rear passenger side wheel was turned inward at a 90 degree angle. she was also informed the rear trailing arms and rods were rusted through. the vehicle was repaired and the failure had not recurred. the failure and current mileages were 43,000. .

I own a toyota 2007 rav4 which as been in the dealerships shop over 10 times for the same two issues brakes and grinding noise, per toyota each time it was different, but i know it was the same two things. it's like toyota is falsifying customer's car issues with their own words instead of making proper documentation. it started off with the brakes when i first purchased the car they were making a noise and when going over speed bumps the car would accelerate instead of stopping, but i thought this may be an added feature to the new car. the first real incident is when the car would not stop and i crashed into to a side rail. it didn't do much damage and it total about $400.00. the car is making a metallic noise in the suspension and this was reported, but each and every time toyota's techs drives with me and my husband while we driving the car to duplicate the noise toyota's techs said this noise was normal. we knew this noise wasn't normal behavior of a brand new car, i took it to another auto shop and they verified that the noise was in the suspension system, that toyota would need to address the issue because the car was still under warranty, and it would cost me money to locate the noise. when i told toyota they said they give a car until they could find the issue, by letting their field tech look at the car, and i asked when this tech would be available. i wanted to see this person look at the car, but they came up with a million and one reasons that i could meet with the tech? after talking to people from their corp office about the metallic noise and the brakes toyota said, 'since we can't find anything wrong with the car it's under warranty so if something happens it will be fixed'. what i don't understand is why should i have to wait for this car to kill me or my family for the company to look at their faults because all we did was purchased a car from the top of the line auto makers to get this kind of treatment? *tw

I have had numerous sensor problems, replaced free of charge at this point. had to replace wheel bearing and wiring due to corrosion, free of charge now other side has same wheel bearing, corrosion problem and they want $1000.00. have also had a clunking in steering column (bad knuckle joint) that tech's have not found. hear that would cost at least $800.00. they also say water pump leaking and need replacement to prevent engine damage another approx. $1000.00. i've been online and these are all problems discussed by other rav4 owners. the tech told me there are not enough problems to incite a recall. mean while i've had nothing but problems since i bought this vehicle and it doesn't even have 60k. now they want 3k to fix current problems. *tr